2005 Baron de Magana

Before I talk about the wine, I have a confession... My name is Rebecca and I am utterly and completely addicted to Mexican food! It's pretty ridiculous! And, even though I can admit it, I still totally blame my mom for this obsession! : ) Clay and I eat Mexican WAY too frequently and this night was one of those many, many occasions!

The weather was horrible, we were lazy and all the pieces just fell together for a great and relaxing evening in! We had Mexican delivered to the house (Bulldawg Food delivery*= greatest idea/company EVER!), watched TV and had some wine. It was just perfect!

*Bulldawg Food is a new company in town. They've teamed up with tons of local restaurants and will deliver anything from the menu for $2! Seriously!? Why didn't I think of that!? They have an awesome website and have probably added to my increasing waistline the last couple months! : ) I may be their only customer (but I'm a good one!), so here's their website: http://www.orderbulldawgfood.com/ Enjoy Athenians! : )

Now, back to the wine!

2005 Baron de Magana

Navarra

Date tasted: 12/15/10

Purchased at: Shiraz wine store

Price: Normally $21.99, but $19.99 this month

Rating:

Rebecca: 8.5

Clay: 8

Sight: very dark, clear

Smell: slight fruit- raspberry, smoky, lead, slight hay/straw- interesting

Tastes: very dry, smoky, very strong, seems very acidic/tannic

This wine is 40% Merlot, 40% Cab. and 20% Tempranillo. I have been pretty vocal about my aversion to Merlot; however, I'm always willing to squash stigmas! The wine didn't drink like there was any Merlot! The Cab. and Tempranillo really did a great job of bringing out all of the Merlot's good qualities without showcasing the ones that I'm not super fond of! It was really, really good! I wrote in my notes, "YUM!" so that should say something! : )

I would definitely buy this wine again!

2005 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon and 2005 Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon

Clay, Hodge, Alli, Maxey and I decided to try out one of the "themed" dinners that the Country Club offers throughout the month. This one pulled us in primarily because they offer 1/2 price bottles of wine ($100 and under)! Who can say no to that!? : )

We had a pretty good meal, LOTS of laughs (mostly at Maxey) and some delicious wine!
We had 2 different bottles, but I've bundled them onto this one posting since it was the same night!

2005 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon
Date tasted: 11/23/10

Purchased at: Athens Country Club

Ratings:

Rebecca: 9

Clay: 8

Alli: 9

Hodge: 9

Maxey: 8.5-9

I very 'inconspicuously' took some pictures from my phone.

Very oakey smell and tastes- smoky, jammy, cigar tastes, it's definitely a BIG California Cab., Spicy

Alli and Hodge went to Napa for their 1st Anniversary in August and she said this wine just brought back so many great memories for her!

Next up:

2005 Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon

Alexander Valley
Ratings:

Rebecca: 8

Clay: 8

Alli: 8

Hodge: 7.75 (yup... he's difficult :) )

Maxey: 7.5 (Maxey had been drinking for quite some time at this point and had some very explicit and hilarious commentary about this wine!)

We really shouldn't have strayed from Silver Oak, but we thought we should at least be adventurous! The Jordan Cab. was a little lighter than the Silver Oak and just not as flavorful. It was still good, but was definitely overshadowed and overpowered by the delicious Silver Oak we had just finished!

Everyone thought that it had a really strong alcohol smell- which isn't super pleasant while drinking!

So... for entertainment value, I'll give you one of Maxey's PG-rated quotes on the Jordan:

"Ive had some 2 Buck Chuck that tasted better than this! It smells like rubbing alcohol!"

He still gave it a 7.5 rating, so it obviously wasn't too bad! : ) Also, Maxey buys 2 Buck Chuck by the case, so that's not exactly his best comparison! : )

Silver Oak is just always a great choice! Again, we really should have just stuck with two bottles, but oh well! You certainly can't beat it at half price either!!!

All-in-all... a great night! : )

2008 Turkey Flat Vineyards Rose

I decided to try and make a healthy dinner for Clay and I one night, so I made pan seared tilapia, sauteed spinach and couscous with zucchini. I had wine, Clay did not. He said that having wine sort-of negated a healthy dinner... what a buzz kill! : )

So, I picked something I knew he'd turn his nose up to, a Rose (it really bothers me that I have no idea how to put the accent mark on the e!). I'm sure I've probably had a Rose at some point in my life, but I really have no recollection of it! So, for all intents and purposes, this was my first!

This particular Rose was 63% Grenache, 18% Shiraz, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Dolcetto.

2008 Turkey Flat Vineyards Rose

Barossa Valley, Australia

Date tasted: 11/8/10

Purchased at: Shiraz wine store

Price: regularly $16.99, this month $13.99

Rating: 8

just trying to show the color

Coral colored and very clear. Really good and very dry. I don't really get any fruit flavors, but I'm probably off on that. I think I was expecting it to be somewhat sweet, but it really wasn't sweet at all!

Smells fruity (but not sweet), smells yummy (that's helpful, right!?), slight grassy smell.

Seems acidic maybe. Really can't decide how it tastes, but it's really good!

Would definitely buy again!

*Note: I made this note the next day: Wasn't as good the 2nd day... that's disappointing!

I can't decide if that affects my rating and overall opinion... guess I'll just have to try it again! : )

2006 Chupacabra California Red Wine

Clay recently accepted a promotion at work that will really cut down on his travel... SO EXCITING! : ) So, this means more home-cooked meals and (fingers crossed) more wine! : )

We decided to have an at-home dinner during his first officialweek of the new job. We recently got a Trader Joe's in Athens, so I stopped by to try and find something good for dinner. I bought a Cabernet marinated roast, brocollini and fingerling potatoes. Well... not super impressive. The roast was just ok, so that was slightly disappointing. But, I still thought Trader Joe's was pretty cool! : )

We figured we needed a Cab to go with our Cab marinated roast, so I pulled one out of our wine fridge and hoped for the best. This particular bottle was (surprise, surprise) one of our wine club wines and I had been wanting to try it for awhile. The winemaker is the lead singer of "Tool"... pretty cool, huh!? : )

It's a blend of Cab, Petit Verdot, Petit Syrah, Valdique, Cab Franc and Zin. and the grapes are from both California and Arizona.

2006 Chupacabra California Red Wine

Merkin Vineyards (Livermore, CA)

Date tasted: 11/3/10

Purchased at: Shiraz wine store

Price: $20.99

Rating: 7.5 (Clay didn't think it was as good, but didn't give it a rating)

Clear and really, really dark wine.

Smells: cranberry- almost overwhelmingly so, smells jammy

Tastes: hay or wood tastes, not fruity, slightly smoky, really tannic (really dries mouth out)

Doesn't have a whole lot of flavor while you're drinking, but has a pretty spicy/powerful aftertaste

I would drink this one again, but I probably wouldn't buy it... does that make sense!? : )

Las Vegas- 2005 Banfi Summus

Vegas was off to a GREAT start and Day/Night 2 did not disappoint!

Clay, Maxey, Hope and I had reservations at Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare at the Wynn hotel. Bartolotta is an Italian seafood restaurant (hence the name) and the menu was just insanely delicious looking! I was a tad bit nervous though because Clay's not a huge seafood lover; however, I knew he'd find SOMETHING he liked! : ) Well... we all did! We had enough food to feed a small country (and ate EVERY bite)! It was so delicious and fresh and amazing! We all loved it! It was also a neat experience... we ordered several different courses and for our main course, we ordered two fish... two whole fish to split as a table. The wait staff came out and took the head off of our fish and deboned it right in front of us. I've seen this before, but it never ceases to amaze me how easily these people make it look! : )

We consulted with the sommelier and decided to stick with what we all really prefer... red wine. We knew that we wanted an Italian wine and Maxey and I were both pushing for a Sangiovese. We settled on a Sangiovese, Cab and Syrah blend that sounded too good to be true!

Our first sips were a bit strange. I really didn't think I was going to like it very much... it seemed SO light for a blend of such big grapes! We all decided to finish our drinks from the bar and let the wine sit and breathe for awhile. GOOD MOVE! This wine DEFINITELY should have been decanted! The first sip and the last sip could not have been more different!!! I'm always fascinated to see how much a wine can change and this bottle was the strongest example of that that I've seen!

2005 Banfi Summus

Sangiovese, Cab, Syrah

Ratings:

Rebecca: 8.5-9 (although I would have given it no higher than a 7 at first!)

Clay: 8.5

Maxey: 8.5

Hope: 8

*Again... iPhone pictures:

Really dark in color. Has strong coffee smells, slight licorice smell maybe (not unpleasant though- that's really not a smell/flavor I enjoy typically). Dark berry flavors, spicy, maybe a little chocolate flavor. You feel it in your nose when you drink it... I'm thinking maybe this is due to the spices!? It's dry-tannic.

This is definitely a bottle that I'd get again, but this time, I'd open it up, decant it and let it breathe for an hour or so before indulging! : )

Las Vegas- 2006 Stags Leap Artemis Cabernet Sauvignon

First off... I LOVE VEGAS! : )

But really... what's not to love!? It's such a fun and energetic environment with anything you want right at your fingertips! Ahhh... Vegas!

So, Clay and I, along with our friends, (Joe) Maxey and Hope, all headed out for a few nights of fun! Maxey was really concerned with our dinner and wine selections because he knew it would mean that he would have the honor of being featured in my award-winning blog (HA!), so we did some pretty extensive research before leaving Georgia! (No award will ever be given with run-on sentences like this one... good grief!)

We arrived in Vegas in plenty of time to lose some money and get ready for a long night!

Dinner on night one was at Mandalay Bay hotel at Aureole restaurant. The restaurant looked to have a good menu and a cool vibe online; however, that had nothing really to do with our selection! Aureole has this ridiculous wine cellar and "wine angels" and almost 10,000 bottles of wine to choose from! Seriously, that wasn't a typo!

This is what Aureole's website (http://www.aureolelv.com/) says about it...

"Four stories high and 14 feet square, this skyscraper-like structure is a frame of stainless steel fitted with laminated glass. Nine thousand eight hundred and sixty five bottles are held in the sandblasted Plexiglass wine racks and the entire structure is climate controlled to a wine-keeping ideal of 55 degrees and 70 percent humidity."

"Inspired by a scene from Mission Impossible, Adam D. Tihany designed Aureole's wine tower with mechanical hoists to lift wine stewards or "wine angels" up and down the four sides of the tower. Equipped with an intercom, printer and wine bottle holster, a wine steward travels from the ground floor to the top of the 42 foot tower in about 10 seconds."

*this was taken from my iPhone, so excuse the terrible quality!

We all decided that our first night in Vegas should call for a really great bottle of Cab! So... we went through the ELECTRONIC WINE MENU (seriously amazing) and after narrowing down TONS of amazing options, we decided to go with one of Clay's favorites... Stags Leap! It was SO delicious (delicious enough for us to warrant getting two bottles)! Clay and I had both had Stags Leap before, but Maxey and Hope were new, big fans instantly!

The wine went perfectly with our awesome meals and we all had a really great time!

2006 Stags Leap Artemis Cabernet Sauvignon

Napa Valley, California

Ratings:

Rebecca: 9

Clay: 9 (his current favorite wine, Cakebread, holds his only 10)

Maxey: 9.5 (Maxey really wanted to give this one a 10, but got nervous that he'd give this a 10 and something better will come along... hmmm... this doesn't sound at all like a reason Maxey's still single now does it!?)

Hope: 9

*I forgot to take pictures of our bottle... Oops! I really was enjoying this one! : )

Dark and clear with slightly lighter edges. Super smooth (personally, I think this is the wine's best characteristic)!

Smells: Smells absolutely delicious! Dark berry smells, earthy, minerally

Tastes: (I really forgot to take notes... I was too busy enjoying it!) Tannic, so smooth, hard to pinpoint individual tastes- Perfect Cab.!

St. Louis- 2008 Yalumba Cabernet Sauvignon

Clay had meetings in St. Louis and I'd never been, so we put the Skymiles to good use! : )

It was a VERY quick trip (I flew up there Friday afternoon and we came back on Saturday evening)! But, still great to see new places, etc.!

We didn't really have much on the agenda other than having a good dinner and seeing the arch! The weather was supposed to be terrible on Saturday, so we went ahead and got the touristy bit out of the way on Friday when I got there. The arch is amazing! I didn't think I'd be impressed (I mean... it's just a metal arch in some random city); however, I was definitely mesmerized! It's just incredible how tall that thing is! Apparently, I missed the portion of the museum under the arch where it listed the height and some fun facts about it, but smarty pants Clay didn't (of course)! He listed the height (which I don't remember) and said that the Statue of Liberty, the Washington Monument and the Empire State Building (I'm not 100% sure I'm right about that last one) would all fit under the St. Louis arch! That's pretty tall!!! It was an absolutely PERFECT day outside and the sunlight was bouncing off of the metal in such a really beautiful way! So, St. Louis gets a check in my book!

Now... on to dinner!

We ate at Herbie's Vintage 72 (herbies.com) in this really adorable part of St. Louis (that Clay had never seen)! I wish it had been earlier so that we could really walk around and explore, but oh well!

I had really high hopes for the food after looking at the menu at home; however, I have to admit... I was a bit disappointed! : ( Clay really enjoyed his meal, so that's great; however, mine was definitely sub-par! BUT... the wine was great! : )

We ordered the 2007 Yalumba Cab, but they brought out the 2008... oh well! Like I'd actually know the difference! : )

This particular bottle was the cheapest Cab. on the menu (which NEVER happens), but I was excited to try it and had been looking forward to it!

I've had 2 other wines from Yalumba and was incredibly impressed! I've had a GSM and a port and loved both! So, I figured the Cab. would at least be good too! It was!

2008 Yalumba Cabernet Sauvignon

South Australia

Date tasted: 10/22/10

$30- pretty good for a restaurant, huh!? : )

My rating: 9

Clay's rating: 8

Had jammy, smoky smells (mostly cigar) and peppery tastes. It was not super full bodied, I'd actually say it was closer to medium bodied, but still had big Cab. flavors.

That's all the notes I took on it while we were there... oops!

It's DEFINITELY a bottle I'd buy again! And, it just proved to me more that I love Yalumba and will feel confident when I see it listed!

2007 The Table Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Clay and I bought a new grill a couple days ago and thought we should properly break it in... with a nice, juicy steak! So, we went to our wine fridge and found what we hoped would be a great Cab. to go with it.

2007 The Table
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
ONCE Sommelier Series
Purchased from Shiraz wine store (Athens, GA)
$20.99



We loved this bottle! It was a really great, perfect example of a Cab. Seemed really tannic to me and also seemed to maybe have a bit higher alcohol content, but I really don't know if it did. I would say that, unless you really love Cab., you wouldn't enjoy this bottle as it is very dry, tannic and strong. All the qualities I love! : )

My notes:
Dark in color with slightly lighter edges. A bit cloudy because of noticable sediment (the bottle ended up having A LOT of sediment- the last glass I poured from the bottle was FULL of sediment, but it wasn't a distraction to me). (You think that sentence had the word sediment enough times!? Geez Rebecca!)
Starts off with a strong pine smell, then at the end of that same whiff, it smelled like really sweet cherries. Very interesting and really pleasant.
Earthy tastes (I'm sure the sediment has something to do with this), thick jammy tastes (not fruity though).

Rating:
8.5-9.5 (that's as specific as I can get... I am NOT good with ratings!)
I will definitely be buying this wine again and again!